Roundup linked to birth defects?

Oct 6, 2010
by Pesticide Action Network

A study of links between Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup and human birth defects is stirring scientific debate. While it has been well established that very low concentrations of the herbicide are lethal to frogs, evidence of impacts on humans is still preliminary. The new research published by a team from Argentina, Brazil, the UK and US, headed by Andrés Carrasco of the University of Buenos Aires Medical School, suggests that Roundup may be linked to birth defects even at concentrations lower than those used in farm fields. “The findings in the lab are compatible with malformations observed in humans exposed to glyphosate during pregnancy,” Carrasco reported. Researchers are calling for additional studies of exposure to glyphosate (the active ingredient in Roundup) at even lower concentrations, along with studies of the impacts of insecticides used along with Roundup, to more definitively project the range of human health damages that may be anticipated.